Of Past and Present
by CrimsonRainfall
Summary: Kagome and Inu-Yasha are having some problems. Kikyo is showing up and seems to be convincing Inu-Yasha that it is his duty to accompany her to hell. Kagome must come to see that her destiny lies within her own hands.
1. Prologue

The lazy wind of early autumn gusted though the rich leaves amongst the thick boughs of the trees, causing them to fall gently to the ground. The buttery sunlight cast its rays through the obscuring forest canopy, making pools of light among the dusky shadows. A young girl walked through the woods, sheets of leaves falling around her and swirling at her feet, giving her an ethereal appearance. The young woman was wearing red and white garb, the attire of a miko. Long tresses of ebony flowing lightly behind her upon the wind. She carried a bow and quiver, as well as a basket containing small, plastic bottles. She came eventually to a warm stream and set her burdens down.  
  
"Perfect," She whispered, beginning to remove her clothing. "And no Inu-Yasha or hentai houshi to ruin it." This statement brought forth a giggle. As the last of her garments was removed, Kagome scooted the basket to the edge of the water and eased in. "Mmm... Not too hot and not too cold." Finally sinking in all the way, she chose a bottle and poured the contents into her hand before slathering it into her hair. 'I sure needed a bath,' she thought with disdain, 'that last demon was a messy bisness.' After she finished with washing and rinsing her hair, Kagome moved out of the water and extracted a towel from the wicker basket and began rubbing furiously at her hair. After she was sure it was dry enough, she moved on to the rest of her body. 'I wish I could stay here longer, but Inu-Yasha will probably come looking for me if I do. He's so impatient!' Although, the thought of him brings a smile to her face.  
  
Almost if on cue, a voice called out from nearby. "KAGOME?! Where are you, stupid girl?!"  
  
Kagome gasped, peering down at her naked form. "SIT!!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, diving at her clothes and hurriedly putting them on.  
  
A loud boom resounded throughout the once peaceful forest, telling Kagome that Inu-Yasha had been sat and all was relatively safe so long as she got her clothes on quickly.  
  
"What was that for, you bitch?!" Inu-Yasha yelled, his angry voice carrying tremendously.  
  
"For coming to get me so soon!" Kagome yelled back, having successfully gotten her clothes on. "For all you know I could have been naked!"  
  
Inu-Yasha came storming into the clearing, looking smugly at Kagome. "Feh. Who the hell would ever wanna look at you? And you take so damn long that I start to think somethin' happened to the shard detector!"  
  
Kagome took on a hurt expression, her insides seeming to contort. "I-I see." She stuttered, picking up her things and turning her back on him. "Well, your 'shard detector' is just fine." She said coldly, trying to hold back the tears the threatened to well up in her eyes. 'Why is he always so mean to me?' She thought sadly as she started to walk toward Kaede's hut.  
  
Inu-Yasha could smell her unformed tears and instantly lost his arrogant expression. "Kagome, I," He flailed, trying to make her turn around.  
  
Kagome ignored him and walked in angry silence, a small tear trickling down her cheek. Ever since his last run in with Kikyo, Inu-Yasha had been treating her almost as badly as when they first met. 'It doesn't help that I'm wearing what a miko does," She thought sourly, her sadness turning into frustration at the thought of Kikyo. Kikyo. She hated her. 'What?! I can't think like that. What will Inu-Yasha think of me?' More tears spilled down her face, her good mood completely shattered.  
  
'Damn, why is she crying?!' Inu-Yasha thought desperately, charging after Kagome. "Kagome! Wait!" With that outfit on, Kagome could have been Kikyo's double. It was unnerving. "Kagome," He growled as he came to her side. "Just stop crying, Ok? I... I don't like it." He gulped, hoping that he could stop her tears without sounding like he cared too much.  
  
"Why does it matter to you?" Kagome asked quietly, bracing herself against the tears.  
  
Recoiling slightly, Inu-Yasha was overcome with his feeling for Kagome. Feelings he did everything in his power to hide. "Kagome..." He replied softly, stepping in front of her and opening his arms in an attempt to embrace her.  
  
As Inu-Yasha swooped down to hug her, Kagome stepped back, a look of genuine confusion on her face. "S-Sit!" She cried out weakly. She didn't want him hugging her while she looked like Kikyo.  
  
Inu-Yasha came crashing to the earth at her feet. "What the hell?!" He snarls, waiting for the spell to wear off.  
  
Kagome merely stepped around him, continuing on her way to Kaede's hut. 


	2. The Abduction

"I'm fine, I'm really fine." Kagome assured Sango, Miroku, and Kaede as she entered the hut, unable to hide her red eyes. "I-I got some dust in my eyes, that's all." The three looked at each other with mutual understanding. She was lying. "Well," Kagome said in a too cheery voice, "I'll start getting dinner ready. Could you help me, Sango?" Sango nodded and crossed the hut to join Kagome in digging through her pack.  
  
Kaede slowly got up from her place by the fire and made to head outdoors. "I am going to check on some of the sick villagers, I may not be back for supper, Kagome." She said with a slightly disappointed smile.  
  
"That's all right Kaede-babaa." Kagome said, turning her head to flash her a smile. With a nod, Kaede headed out into the dusk.  
  
"Are you sure you're Ok, Kagome?" Sango asked lowly, a look of worry upon her face.  
  
"I'm fine, Sango. If you must know, Inu-Yasha and I just got into a fight again. Nothing new." Kagome said with a depressed sigh, bringing a few packages of ramen from her bag. "This is his favorite, so maybe he'll leave me alone for tonight." She shook her head, moving over to the fire with a pot in her hand.  
  
Miroku shook his head, angry that Inu-Yasha had once again caused Kagome to cry. "I think I'm going to take a walk," He said briskly while getting to his feet. "Just let me know when you two are done, hm?"  
  
Sango glared at Miroku as he disappeared and this brought Kagome to the conclusion that he had done something perverted in her absence. "He'll never learn, will he." Kagome made this more of a statement then a question, for she already knew the answer.  
  
"Never." Sango agreed, picking up a pale. "I'll be right back, Kagome-Chan, I'm going to get some more water." And she too left the hut.  
  
Kagome was now alone with her thoughts. "I don't care. I need to realize that he loves Kikyo." She muttered to herself while stirring the ramen. She wished Shippo would come back. He and Kirara had left early this afternoon to pick the remaining black berries. She knew that Kirara could take care of herself, but all the same she was beginning to worry. The sun had all ready begun to set.  
  
"Kagome?" Came Inu-Yasha's voice from the doorway.  
  
Kagome jumped, nearly knocking over their cooking dinner. "Yes?" She responded curtly, trying not to look over at him.  
  
"I. Well, what I wanted to tell you is," Suddenly, Inu-Yasha paused. He stepped inside and knelt beside Kagome. "Will you look at me when I'm talking to you!" He exploded, throwing his hands in the air.  
  
Kagome's eyes widened and she looked into his face, hurt by the anger she saw in his eyes.  
  
"I wanted to tell you that I didn't mean what I said earlier," Inu-Yasha's expression softened as he sat down fully on the floor next to her.  
  
"It's fine," Kagome mumbled, turning away from him and back to the pot over the fire.  
  
Inu-Yasha watched her for a while, and when she didn't look back at him, he snorted and got up. He walked across the hut and sat on the other side, leaning against the wall while continuing to watch Kagome.  
  
Kagome tried to pay no attention to his eyes upon her, and was more than grateful when Sango came through the door with a sloshing pale of water. "I'm back," She announced, gaze briefly darting to Inu-Yasha. She primly stuck her nose in the air and walked to the fire, setting the pale down before taking a seat next to Kagome.  
  
"Houshi-Sama is up to something," Sango told Kagome while opening another package of ramen and dumping it into the pot, along with more water.  
  
"What makes you think that?" Kagome asked curiously, turning her head to look at her friend.  
  
"Well, when I went out to get the water, he was talking to a crowd of the village girls." Sango said a little irritated.  
  
"What's so strange about that?" Inu-Yasha asked dryly from across the room.  
  
Sango glared back at him before returning her eyes to Kagome. "Well, he wasn't asking a single one of them to bare his child." She raised a thin brow. "He was, however, asking them what sort of jewelry women like."  
  
Kagome giggled, nudging Sango on the arm. They all knew of Miroku's feelings for Sango, and Kagome guessed that he was going to buy her something as an apology.  
  
"What I would like more than jewelry, is for him to stop groping me." Sango said with a shake of her head.  
  
The tarp on the door was pulled aside as Shippo and a house cat sized Kirara entered. In his arms, Shippo carried a large basket of berries. "This was all I could find," He said disappointedly, setting the basket down by the door and running to Kagome.  
  
Kagome looked quite relieved. She had come to think of Shippo as a son. She caught him up in a huge hug before setting him down. "I guess winter's coming sooner than we expected," She said to the young fox demon, giving him a pat on the head. Kirara mewed and crawled into Sango's lap, yawning hugely.  
  
Sango took the pot from the fire and set it on the floor, stirring it a little. "The ramen is done, so I will go and get Miroku-Sama." She scooped Kirara into her arms before exiting.  
  
Kagome poured Inu-Yasha a bowl of ramen and crossed the room. She knelt down beside him and handed it over.  
  
Inu-Yasha nodded and took the bowl, turning his attention to eating.  
  
Kagome gave him a forlorn look before crossing the hut once again and sitting next to Shippo. "Did you have fun today?" She asked him while serving him up a bowl.  
  
"Ya, but those berries sure were hard to find!" He said while smiling animatedly, looking at Kagome all the while.  
  
Sango and Miroku entered the hut. Sango first, looking quite steamed, and Muroku trailing after hit a red handprint on his face.  
  
Kagome and Shippo rolled their eyes and tried not to laugh.  
  
*  
  
When dinner was finished, Kagome unrolled her sleeping bag and put a sleeping Shippo in. The others were getting ready for bed as well, and even Inu-Yasha looked tired. Kagome began cleaning up the meal as quietly as she could.  
  
When she finished, she looked around at her friends. Shippo was sleeping soundly in her sleeping bag, Sango was asleep with Kirara next to her, and Miroku was reduced to the farthest corner from Sango. Then there was Inu- Yasha. She stared at him for a while, taking in his whole form. She knew that she loved him. Every time she saw his face, heard his name, his voice, she couldn't stop the smile that came to her lips.  
  
'If only he felt the same way.' She thought miserably. Kagome found that she no longer felt tired. She checked to see that the others were all asleep once again before heading out of the hut, careful not to direct the draft from the open tarp toward Inu-Yasha.  
  
She shivered against the chilly night breeze, and started off toward the stream. A walk sounded good. This way she might be able to clear her mind and practice her growing miko abilities. Wait- her bow and arrows. Kagome slapped her forehead. She had left them back at the hut. 'Oh well,' she thought, not daring to risk going back for them. Inu-Yasha would wake and yell at her for going out on her own.  
  
As Kagome walked in silence through the forest, she couldn't help but acknowledge the feeling of being watched. She stopped suddenly and looked warily around. "I-Inu-Yasha?" She called out quietly, genuinely hoping that it was him, but no response came. Kagome backed up a little, and stopped abruptly when she ran into a bush. 'I'm just imagining things,' She tried to reassure herself, but that was before a pair of hands roughly fell across her face and pulled her into the shadows. 


End file.
